Transformation Portfolio

Here is the most recent portfolio completed by my Grade 6 students, and one of my favorite so far! I called it the Transformation Portfolio. The idea behind the name was taking a found object, and transforming it into something else. But, in retrospect, isn't all art transformational? Anyways, may have to rethink the name!
This portfolio consisted of three projects, an altered photograph, a wire sculpture and a collaborative altered book! Here are the project descriptions, as well as students examples from the Transformation Portfolio!

PROJECT #1: ALTERED PHOTOGRAPH - Student had to bring in a photograph, and using the subject matter in the photo, alter the surface! They could take away, or add on! Turned out great! Love what this student did with the different media! She really experimented!

This altered photograph is much more subtle, but she added that little ladybug that you see in the center! So cute!

PROJECT #2: WIRE SCULPTURE - This was the best project I have done yet as a teacher! Start with a piece of wood, and hammer in two nails to create the holes. Next get a coat hanger and cut off the hooked end. Have students twist the coat hanger into any shape they like. Try to encourage them to keep it abstract, and to try not to twist it with an idea in mind. Next, use a hot glue gun, and glue the coat hanger ends into the holes. Once that is dry, take a stocking, and stretch it all the way over and around the board. You then take white glue, water it down a bit, and coat the pantyhose with 2-3 coats, letting it dry in between each coat. Once the pantyhose is firm, the students can begin to look at their shape, and turn it into something! This is easy for some, and tricky for others, but it really is the fun part!

A toucan!

A wolf!

A person throwing up! Ewwwwww! I was super excited for this one!! This was created by a wonderful kid, but he literally can not sit down for longer than 1 minute. This is the first assignment that he sat, worked on, and finished ALL YEAR! So happy for him, and it turned out great!!!!

A shark!

A waterfall!

PROJECT #3: ALTERED BOOK - I absolutely love this project, but it turned out to be fairly complicated because I began it so late in the year. I provided the class with a picture book. I tried to choose books that had pages filled with different pictures and text (I actually scavenged the old library books that the library was getting rid of). Each student gets the book for  certain number of days. If I had started this earlier in the year, each student would have it for a week, but because I began so late, I had to create a complicated calendar system, as seen above! Each student gets to choose a two page spread, and must alter their pages to express what art means to them! There were no limitations on how they could do this, except for that they could not rip the page out! At the end, we will have one, massive book, that the entire class contributed to, almost like an art room yearbook! This project is still going, but here are a few pictures from a week ago!

After a few weeks, you are already unable to close the book. So excited to see it at the end!

String, paint, felt and sharpies!

This student chose to work around an image from her pages, adding to it by using collage!

Paint and tissue paper!

I will add more pictures of the Altered Book project as it goes. I love this project so much, I would like to do it every year! It is a beautiful memoir of the students of that year.

Extension!
ARTIST STATEMENTS - Because the students were so excited and proud of their wire sculptures, I decided to take that opportunity to get them talking about their art, and expressing why they did what they did through Artist Statements. First we talked about what an artist statement is and how to create one, then they sat down with their sculpture and went through a number of brainstorming questions to get them describing their artwork, both visually and thematically. They then used that brainstorm to create their artist statement, which are now on display beside their sculpture in the Learning Commons at our school!

Potential Addition!?
Have students incorporate a pic of themselves, make it more about them, and what art means to them. This will make it easier to remember, years later, which student created which page. It would also ask the students to create something more personal.

Question!?
I want the students to be able to remember this collaborative piece as well, but I have not quite figured out an easy way to do this. A picture of their pages for them? Pictures of everyone's pages burnt onto a CD? Still thinking about this...